--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: For me, art history is like a feather bed…" description: "\"For me, art history is like a feather bed - you fall into it and it catches you.\" — David Salle" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/157/david-salle-11131_art_for-me-art-history-is-like-a-feather-bed_3190518.jpg" --- # For me, art history is like a feather bed - you fall into… ![“For me, art history is like a feather bed - you fall into it and it catches you.” quote by David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/157/david-salle-11131_art_for-me-art-history-is-like-a-feather-bed_3190518.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/157/david-salle-11131_art_for-me-art-history-is-like-a-feather-bed_3190518.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/157/david-salle-11131_art_for-me-art-history-is-like-a-feather-bed_3190518.jpg) > “For me, art history is like a feather bed - you fall into it and it catches you.” [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art history can be a comforting, immersive experience that supports and grounds you. **In simple terms:** Art history offers a soothing, supportive foundation. Key Takeaway Use art history as a grounding tool. Themes comfort art history creativity support Mood calm thoughtful inspired Type reflective educational When to use this quote - studying art - museum visits - creative writing - teaching - personal reflection Key Concepts aesthetics psychology education Questions to Reflect On - How does art history inspire your own work? - When do you seek comfort vs. challenge? A Different Perspective Over‑reliance may limit active creation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art history](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-history/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) ## Related quotes > [This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering its a feather bed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/this-is-how-magic-is-done-by-hurling-yourself-into-the-abyss-and/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [the power of philosophy floats through my head.. light like a feather, heavy as lead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-marley/the-power-of-philosophy-floats-through-my-head-light-like-a-feather-2/) [Bob Marley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-marley/) > [Some days confidence shrinks to the size of a pea, and the backbone feels like a feather. We want to be somewhere else, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-hersey/some-days-confidence-shrinks-to-the-size-of-a-pea-and-the-backbone/) [Jean Hersey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-hersey/) > [Life is short. It can come and go like a feather in the wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shania-twain/life-is-short-it-can-come-and-go-like-a-feather-in-the-wind/) [Shania Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shania-twain/) > [Like a feather in a dust storm, with no direction The Raven flies through life, helpless and omitted Until night declares and the wind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-sorensen/like-a-feather-in-a-dust-storm-with-no-direction-the-raven-flies/) [Jessica Sorensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-sorensen/) > [My life is light, waiting for the death wind, Like a feather on the back of my hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot/my-life-is-light-waiting-for-the-death-wind-like-a-feather-on-the/) [T. S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot/) > [To the window, to the wall, to the bed I fall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brittany-jones/to-the-window-to-the-wall-to-the-bed-i-fall/) Brittany Jones > [That awkward moment when you jump in bed and you almost fall asleep. Then you realize you forgot to turn off the light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-awkward-moment-when-you-jump-in-bed-and-you-almost-fall-asleep/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“A plumped feather bed may have looked divine, but occupants quickly found themselves sinking into a hard, airless fissure between billowy hills. Support was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/a-plumped-feather-bed-may-have-looked-divine-but-occupants-quickly/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [“When I get up in the morning, I go right back to bed again. I feel best in the evening the moment I put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-ren-kierkegaard/when-i-get-up-in-the-morning-i-go-right-back-to-bed-again-i-feel-best/) [Søren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-ren-kierkegaard/) > [Life is always a tightrope or a feather bed. Give me the tightrope.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/life-is-always-a-tightrope-or-a-feather-bed-give-me-the-tightrope/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“There is nothing more delightful in life than a feather bed and an open fire—except a feather bed with a warm and tender lover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diana-gabaldon/there-is-nothing-more-delightful-in-life-than-a-feather-bed-and-an/) [Diana Gabaldon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diana-gabaldon/) > [“Life is always either a tightrope or a feather bed. Give me the tightrope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/life-is-always-either-a-tightrope-or-a-feather-bed-give-me-the/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [You will not be carried to Heaven lying at ease upon a feather bed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-rutherford/you-will-not-be-carried-to-heaven-lying-at-ease-upon-a-feather-bed/) [Samuel Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-rutherford/) > [Float like a feather.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/birdman/float-like-a-feather/) Birdman ## More by David Salle > [What most paintings do is give you a path for your eye to move around. The painting actually tells your eye, go here, now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/what-most-paintings-do-is-give-you-a-path-for-your-eye-to-move-around/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [I've always read, I've always admired writers and was lucky really to meet some extraordinary ones and become friends. Certain times you just like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/i-ve-always-read-i-ve-always-admired-writers-and-was-lucky-really-to/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [Truth is, I didn't know what the hell I was doing when I got out of Cal Arts. I think I wasted a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/truth-is-i-didn-t-know-what-the-hell-i-was-doing-when-i-got-out-of/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [I feel that the only thing that really matters in art and life is to go against the tidal wave of literalism and literal-mindedness-to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/i-feel-that-the-only-thing-that-really-matters-in-art-and-life-is-to/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [Since I moved six or seven times the first year I was in New York, I had to be able to roll up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/since-i-moved-six-or-seven-times-the-first-year-i-was-in-new-york-i/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [People are still making paintings. People are still enjoying paintings, looking at paintings. Paintings still have something to tell us. There's a way of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/people-are-still-making-paintings-people-are-still-enjoying-paintings/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [I feel like all the American artists are aesthetically not very interesting and mired in a complaining relationship to its own culture, whereas the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/i-feel-like-all-the-american-artists-are-aesthetically-not-very/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [I think people have to be given - or take - the permission to say that something is nothing. Just because it's in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/i-think-people-have-to-be-given-or-take-the-permission-to-say-that/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [There are so many different ways to talk and think about art. We just spoke about when attitude becomes form. But when I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/there-are-so-many-different-ways-to-talk-and-think-about-art-we-just/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [I started when I was nine. Really, everything I know about color theory, composition, drawing, and painting, I learned when I was a kid.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/i-started-when-i-was-nine-really-everything-i-know-about-color-theory/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [If you go to a concert, you will notice, is it loud? Is the music fast? Is it predominately strings or brass? There are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/if-you-go-to-a-concert-you-will-notice-is-it-loud-is-the-music-fast/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [I was actually dumbfounded by how some artists talked to each other. For example, it was a normal night at a bar, nothing very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/i-was-actually-dumbfounded-by-how-some-artists-talked-to-each-other/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [What if everything in a museum is crap? It's entirely possible; it's not the end of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/what-if-everything-in-a-museum-is-crap-it-s-entirely-possible-it-s/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [“good art illustrates anything at all, it’s likely to be a story you didn’t even know needed telling.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/good-art-illustrates-anything-at-all-it-s-likely-to-be-a-story-you/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) > [“How a painter treats this edge is the real subject of realist painting; how the brush behaves in the vicinity of an edge gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/how-a-painter-treats-this-edge-is-the-real-subject-of-realist/) [David Salle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) [Explore all 61 David Salle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "For me, art history is like a feather bed - you fall into it and it catches you.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Salle" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/for-me-art-history-is-like-a-feather-bed-you-fall-into-it-and-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/for-me-art-history-is-like-a-feather-bed-you-fall-into-it-and-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/157/david-salle-11131_art_for-me-art-history-is-like-a-feather-bed_3190518.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/157/david-salle-11131_art_for-me-art-history-is-like-a-feather-bed_3190518.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/157/david-salle-11131_art_for-me-art-history-is-like-a-feather-bed_3190518.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“For me, art history is like a feather bed - you fall into it and it catches you.” — David Salle", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "David Salle", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-salle/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "For me, art history is like...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/for-me-art-history-is-like-a-feather-bed-you-fall-into-it-and-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-salle/for-me-art-history-is-like-a-feather-bed-you-fall-into-it-and-it/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```